Hints and Tips
It's important to choose the right set of models to visualize, specify, construct, and document a system. A well-structured model
- Provides a simplification of reality from a distinct and relatively independent point of view.
- Is self-contained in that it requires no other content to understand its semantics.
- Is loosely coupled to other models via trace relationships.
- Collectively (with other neighboring models) provides a complete statement of a system's artifacts.
Similarly, it's important to decompose complex systems into well-structured subsystems. A well-structured system
- Is functionally, logically, and physically cohesive.
- Can be decomposed into nearly independent subsystems that themselves are systems at a lower level of abstraction.
- Can be visualized, specified, constructed, and documented via a set of interrelated, nonoverlapping models.
UML has a graphical symbol for a model, but it is best to avoid it; model the system and not the model itself. Editing tools will provide facilities for browsing, organizing, and managing sets of models.When you draw a system or a subsystem in the UML,
- Use each as a starting point for all the artifacts associated with that system or subsystem.
- Show only the basic aggregation among the system and its subsystems; typically, you'll leave the details of their connections to lower-level diagrams.